Greg Monroe Deserves To Be In The Best Sixth Man Conversation, Even If His Style Isn’t For Everyone

Unathletic. Mundane. Dull. Boring. These are some of the categories Milwaukee Bucks’ center Greg Monroe might be unfairly stereotyped into. His plodding, below-the-rim style fails to invigorate excitement into the everyday fan, however, when you take a more intimate look you’ll see a player who’s vital to his team’s success. Perhaps, the most important bench player in the league.

Milwaukee was a clearly superior team with Monroe on the floor last season, as they had a positive net rating of 3.7 compared to -2.2 (via NBA Advanced Stats) when he had his butt in a seat. That’s even more impressive considering the Bucks only posted a positive net rating of 1.5 with superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and a -2.1 without him.

Chill, Bucks fans, nobody’s saying Monroe’s more paramount to his team’s success than the Greek Freak, just that his ability to anchor a weak second-unit is extremely valuable.

With the former Georgetown Hoya on the court, Milwaukee was an elite scoring team, as they posted a 110.1 offensive rating. If applied to the whole season, that would’ve given the squad the fifth-best rating in the league. Monroe’s ability to generate easy buckets not only for himself – but for his teammates as well – is the focal point of their bench.

On one play you might see him using his thick frame to post up on the left block and show off some gorgeous, to die for footwork. The half-spins, pivots and dream shakes will leave the defender wondering what the hell just happened as the ball is being laid in the hoop.

On the following possession, you’ll catch him at the high post where he’ll hit a back-cutting guard for an easy layup. This sexy dime-dropping may look easy, but it comes with a lot of practice.